Written Answers Friday 2 September 2005

Scottish Executive

Environment

Richard Lochhead (North East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many complaints have been made in relation to the Weeds Act 1959 in each of the last ten years.

Ross Finnie: The number of complaints made in relation to the Weeds Act 1959 to the  Scottish Executive Environment and Rural Affairs Department’s Area Offices in each of the last ten years is shown in the following table. A complaint may relate to more than one site.

  

Year
Number of Complaints Received
Number of Sites Complained About


2005, as at 24 August
88
125


2004
41
56


2003
51
50


2002
51
74


2001
45
45


2000
42
38


1999
36
36*


1998
41
41*


1997
27
27*


1996
24
24*



  Note: *For 1999 and earlier years, it is not known whether complaints included more than one site.

  Data for 2005 are complaints received by 24 August. Data for previous years include all complaints about injurious weeds received during the full calendar year.

Environment

Richard Lochhead (North East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many public prosecutions have been brought under the Weeds Act 1959 in each of the last ten years.

Ross Finnie: It has not been necessary to bring any prosecutions under the Weeds Act 1959 in any of the last ten years.

Environment

Richard Lochhead (North East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what sanctions are in place to be applied against those who do not remove ragwort and other dangerous weeds from their land.

Ross Finnie: Occupiers of land do not commit an offence by having ragwort and other weeds listed in the Weeds Act 1959 on their land. An occupier who unreasonably fails to comply with a notice served under Section 1 of the Weeds Act 1959 is committing an offence and may, on summary conviction, be liable to a fine not exceeding level 3 of the standard scale.

  Where an occupier fails to comply with a notice, the Weeds Act 1959 also empowers Scottish ministers to take control action and recover the costs of this action from the occupier of the land.

  Local authorities have powers under Section 179 of the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997 to serve notice requiring occupiers to deal with any land whose condition is adversely affecting the amenity of other land in their district. If the occupier fails to comply with the notice, the planning authority may take control action and recover the costs of the action.

  Section 1 of the Roads (Scotland) Act 1984 places a general duty on local authorities to maintain local roads and verges, including controlling ragwort. Where ragwort is apparent on trunk road verges, embankments or central reserves, the Trunk Roads Maintenance Contracts require the operating companies, BEAR Scotland Ltd and Amey Highways Ltd, to control it by undertaking treatment, including hand pulling operations. The services and performance of these companies is monitored by an independent Performance Audit Group, appointed by the Executive. Appropriate action will be taken by the Executive if the requirements of the contract with regard to weed control are not met.

  It is an offence to plant or otherwise cause to grow in the wild certain invasive non-native plants including Giant Hogweed (Heracleum mantegazzianum). Penalties on summary conviction include imprisonment for up to six months and/or a fine not exceeding £40,000. Local authorities may also take action where invasive non-native plants such as Giant Hogweed present a risk to public health and constitute a statutory nuisance.

Europe

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-17650 by Cathy Jamieson on 26 July 2005 which asked for the Executive’s view on whether Scottish courts ought to be able to make applications to the European Court of Justice for preliminary rulings on the validity and interpretation of framework decisions and decisions of the Council of Ministers of the European Union relating to the European area of freedom, justice and security, why no substantive answer was given to the question and whether it will give an answer now.

Cathy Jamieson: The making of a declaration under Article 35(2) is a matter for the UK government. The Scottish Executive would be fully consulted on any proposal by the UK government to make a declaration and that would be the appropriate context for it to make its views known.

Fire Service

Derek Brownlee (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what guidance it has issued to Lothian and Borders Fire Board on the use of the Fire Service Emergency Cover toolkit.

Hugh Henry: The Fire Service Emergency Cover (FSEC) toolkit was given to all the Scottish fire and rescue services in September 2003. HM Fire Service Inspectorate issued a Scottish Fire Service Circular 4/2003 on 3 April 2003 which gave information and advice on the toolkit and the development of integrated risk management plans (IRMPs). Two further Circulars (7/2003 and 11/2003) were issued on 8 September 2003 and 31 December 2003 providing further advice.

Justice

Bill Aitken (Glasgow) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of crimes and offences have resulted in a conviction in each of the last 10 years.

Cathy Jamieson: The available information is given in the table. The statistics dealing with recorded crime and court proceedings are not directly comparable for a number of reasons. A person may be proceeded against for more than one crime or offence involving more than one victim, and a crime may be recorded in one year and proceedings taken in a subsequent year. Crimes and offences committed by children will also generally be dealt with through the children’s hearings system rather than courts, while many minor offences such as motoring offences will typically be dealt with by alternatives to prosecution such as police or Procurator Fiscal conditional offers of fixed penalties.

  Persons with a charge proved in Scottish courts expressed as a percentage of crimes and offences recorded by the police, 1994-2003:

  

Year
%


1994
17


1995
17


1996
17


1997
17


1998
15


1999
14


2000
13


2001
13


2002
13


2003
13

Justice

Margaret Mitchell (Central Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how access to the Scottish Intelligence Database is allocated and monitored.

Cathy Jamieson: Robust procedures are in place to monitor access to and use of the Scottish Intelligence Database (SID). Over 90% of users have basic user level access to allow them to input data onto the system and to search the database. Those with enhanced access manage data within the application and create and audit system use. It is the responsibility of each force to determine the correct access level for their staff and to ensure that they receive appropriate training. SID has an extensive integral audit facility to monitor use and ensure that the integrity of SID is maintained.

Justice

Margaret Jamieson (Kilmarnock and Loudoun) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many road traffic offences have been detected on the M77 extension, Malletsheugh to Fenwick, since the road was opened.

Cathy Jamieson: The section of road in question has only been open since 27 April 2005. The information requested is not available centrally. The statistics available centrally on road traffic offences recorded by the police do not distinguish the geographic location at the level of detail requested although data will be available at a local authority level.

Justice

Margaret Jamieson (Kilmarnock and Loudoun) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many road traffic offences detected on the M77 extension, Malletsheugh to Fenwick, since it opened related to speeding.

Cathy Jamieson: The section of road in question has only been open since 27 April 2005. The information requested is not available centrally. The statistics available centrally on road traffic offences recorded by the police do not distinguish the geographic location at the level of detail requested although data will be available at a local authority level.

Justice

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many video installations in private properties for the purposes of surveillance at the request of the householder there have been in the last full year for which figures are available; how many reports to the Procurator Fiscal have resulted and, of these, how many cases subsequently resulted in a court appearance and how many prosecutions resulted, broken down by police force area.

Cathy Jamieson: Information about the deployment of video surveillance is not recorded in the format that you have requested.

  The Chief Surveillance Commissioner publishes details in his annual report of the number of authorisations given under the Police Act 1997 for property interference, and the Regulation of Investigatory Powers (Scotland) Act 2000 for directed and intrusive surveillance.

  The most recent report by the Chief Surveillance Commissioner, for 2003-04, was laid before the Scottish Parliament on 28 June 2004, SE/2004/109.

Justice

Margaret Mitchell (Central Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many fixed penalties have been issued to motorists for speeding in each of the last five years.

Cathy Jamieson: The information requested is given in Table 17 of the statistical bulletin Criminal Proceedings in Scottish Courts, 2003 published by the Scottish Executive in March 2005, a copy of which is available in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number: 36012).

Justice

Margaret Mitchell (Central Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many speeding convictions resulted from motorists being caught speeding by (a) traffic police and (b) speed cameras in each of the last five years.

Cathy Jamieson: The available information is given in Table 19 of the bulletin Criminal Proceedings in Scottish Courts, 2003 published by Scottish Executive in March 2005, a copy of which is available in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 36012).

  The statistics held centrally cannot distinguish the methods of detection of those convicted of speeding.

Justice

Margaret Mitchell (Central Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how much money has been raised from (a) fixed penalty and (b) all speeding fines in each of the last five years and how this money has been spent.

Cathy Jamieson: The available information relates to the revenue generated by safety camera partnerships in the Scottish Safety Camera Programme. The police can and do carry out speed enforcement outside the programme resulting in fixed penalties or fines, but the money raised from these cannot be identified separately in the statistics held centrally.

  As part of the Scottish Safety Camera Programme partnerships are allowed to recover the cost of camera enforcement from fine revenue as long as they follow strict rules agreed with HM Treasury. The latest available audited figures are for the period 2000-01 to 2003-04 when £11.1 million of fine revenue was generated, with £10.2 million of expenditure across all partnerships on safety camera activity. Any surplus generated and not used to fund the programme is required to be returned to HM Treasury.

Justice

Margaret Mitchell (Central Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how much money is outstanding in (a) fixed penalty and (b) all speeding fines in each of the last five years.

Cathy Jamieson: The information requested is not held centrally.

Police

Carolyn Leckie (Central Scotland) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether police forces in Scotland are operating a "shoot to kill to protect" policy in relation to suspected terrorists.

Cathy Jamieson: The deployment of firearms by police officers is an operational matter for chief constables.

Security Industry

Ms Sandra White (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what action has been taken since the introduction of the Private Security Industry Act 2001 to ensure that the activities of private security firms in Scotland are open to public scrutiny.

Cathy Jamieson: The Private Security Industry Act 2001 will be amended to extend the remit of the Security Industry Authority (SIA) to Scotland. Work is under way to prepare for the introduction of licensing in Scotland and it is expected that the first licences will be issued in early 2007.

  The intent of the Private Security Industry Act 2001 is to protect and reassure the public by preventing unsuitable people obtaining positions of trust in the private security industry and to raise the standards of the industry itself. The SIA will exercise this oversight over the industry. Companies will be able to apply for Approved Contractor Status which will demonstrate to the public that the company as a whole has met standards laid down by the SIA for the running of the company.

Security Industry

Ms Sandra White (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what action has been taken since the introduction of the Private Security Industry Act 2001 to implement the regulation of private security firms in Scotland.

Cathy Jamieson: The Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005 contains provisions which, when commenced, will amend the Private Security Industry Act 2001 to extend the remit of the Security Industry Authority (SIA) to include Scotland. It is our intention to commence these provisions in early 2006 with a view to switching on licensable sectors within the Private Security Industry in Scotland in early 2007. All orders and regulations will be laid by Scottish ministers before the Scottish Parliament.

  Considerable work is already underway in the Scottish Executive and at the SIA to put in place arrangements to introduce licensing. This includes setting up training courses for each sector, liaison with stakeholders and the preparation of regulatory impact assessments for each sector.

Sport

Michael Matheson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how much the Scottish Football Association has paid towards the cost of policing international football games in each of the last three years.

Cathy Jamieson: This information is not held centrally.

  Such arrangements are agreed between the Scottish Football Association and the relevant police authorities.

Sport

Michael Matheson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how much Scottish Rugby has paid towards the cost of policing international rugby matches in each of the last three years.

Cathy Jamieson: This information is not held centrally.

  Such arrangements are agreed between the Scottish Rugby Union and the relevant police authority.

Correction

The reply to question S2W-17662, which was originally answered on 22 July 2005, has been corrected: see page 5746 or http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/business/pqa/wa-05/wa0829.htm.